Thin client discovery

Abstract

A method of assigning a resource to provide services to a thin client is disclosed. The thin client is discovered by receiving a response to a discovery request wherein the response is directed to a broker. The resource to allocate for the thin client is determined. The thin client to the resource is mapped. A connection to the thin client is requested to be established between the resource and the thin client.

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. A broker, including: an interface coupled to a network; a processor; and a memory coupled with the processor, wherein the memory is configured to provide the processor with instructions which when executed cause the processor to: originate a discovery request probing for undiscovered thin client devices that do not have a capability to originate any network connections or discover the network autonomously; discover a thin client by receiving a response to the discovery request; determine a resource to allocate for the thin client; map the thin client to the resource; and request that a connection be established between the resource and the thin client wherein the processor is further configured to: render a resource allocation user interface; and transmit the rendered resource allocation user interface to the thin client. 
     
     
       2. A broker as recited in  claim 1 , wherein the connection is initiated by the resource. 
     
     
       3. A broker as recited in  claim 1 , wherein the resource is a virtual machine. 
     
     
       4. A broker as recited in  claim 1 , wherein the response is directed to an IP address of the broker. 
     
     
       5. A broker as recited in  claim 1 , wherein the processor is further configured to determine a thin client IP address and a thin client type from the response to the discovery request. 
     
     
       6. A broker as recited in  claim 1 , wherein the resource allocation user interface includes user authentication information. 
     
     
       7. A broker as recited in  claim 6 , wherein mapping the thin client to the resource is based on the user authentication information. 
     
     
       8. A broker as recited in  claim 1 , wherein the discovery request is sent to a range of IP addresses using unicast packets. 
     
     
       9. A broker as recited in  claim 1 , wherein the discovery request is sent to a local LAN segment using a broadcast packet. 
     
     
       10. A broker as recited in  claim 1 , wherein the discovery request is sent to a remote LAN segment using a broadcast packet routed by a router. 
     
     
       11. A broker as recited in  claim 1 , wherein the discovery request is sent to a remote LAN segment using a broadcast packet assisted by a thin client on the remote LAN segment. 
     
     
       12. A broker as recited in  claim 1 , wherein the broker originates the discovery request using a DHCP server by supplying an IP address for the broker in a DHCP response, and the thin client virtually generates the discovery response using the DHCP response. 
     
     
       13. A broker as recited in  claim 12 , wherein the thin client uses ARP and the DHCP gateway subnet mask to resolve the broker MAC address. 
     
     
       14. A broker as recited in  claim 12 , wherein the thin client uses ARP and the DHCP gateway subnet mask to resolve the DHCP gateway MAC address. 
     
     
       15. A broker as recited in  claim 1 , wherein mapping the thin client to the resource is based on a thin client address, wherein the thin client address includes one or combination of: a thin client IP address; a thin client MAC address; and a thin client serial number. 
     
     
       16. A broker as recited in  claim 1 , wherein mapping the thin client to the resource is based on the thin client type. 
     
     
       17. A broker as recited in  claim 1 , wherein the processor is further configured to receive a user request for assistance. 
     
     
       18. broker as recited in  claim 1 , wherein the processor is further configured to receive a user request for assistance using a Help button on the thin client. 
     
     
       19. A broker as recited in  claim 1 , wherein each thin client has no central processing unit. 
     
     
       20. A method, including: originating a discovery request probing for undiscovered thin client devices that do not have a capability to originate any network connections or discover a network autonomously; discovering a thin client by receiving a response to the discovery request; determining a resource to allocate for the thin client; mapping the thin client to the resource; and requesting that a connection be established between the resource and the thin client; and further rendering a resource allocation user interface; and transmit the rendered resource allocation user interface to the thin client. 
     
     
       21. A method as recited in  claim 20 , wherein the connection is initiated by the resource. 
     
     
       22. A method as recited in  claim 20 , wherein the resource is a virtual machine. 
     
     
       23. A method as recited in  claim 20 , where each thin client has no central processing unit. 
     
     
       24. A thin client to be connected to a resource, including: a physical network interface, wherein the interface is configured to: receive a discovery request probing for undiscovered thin client devices that do not have a capability to originate any network connections or discover the network autonomously; send a response to a discovery request, wherein the response is directed to a broker that determines the resource to allocate for the thin client and maps the thin client to the resource; and receives a connection from the resource, wherein the connection is requested by the broker to be established between the resource and the thin client; wherein a processor is further configured to: render a resource allocation user interface; and transmit the rendered resource allocation user interface to the thin client. 
     
     
       25. A thin client as recited in  claim 24 , wherein the connection is initiated by the resource. 
     
     
       26. A thin client as recited in  claim 24 , wherein the resource is a virtual machine. 
     
     
       27. A thin client as recited in  claim 24 , wherein the thin client does not include a central processing unit.